The only GOP lawmaker to support same-sex marriage so far is Sen. Allan Kittleman, of Howard County, but some influential Republican Marylanders are beginning to weigh in.
Joe Steffen, the longtime political operative to Republican former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr., wrote a post on his Global Rhetoric blog defending First Lady Catherine Curran O'Malley for calling the some of lawmakers who switched their vote on same-sex marriage "cowards" and saying he wants the marriage equality bill to pass.
Steffen is an odd person to stick up for the First Lady, he was considered one of Ehrlich's enforcers of loyalty and went by the nickname "The Prince of Darkness." Moreover, His state house stint with Ehrlich ended after he was accused of pushing Internet rumors about the O'Malley's personal lives.
But in a recent blog post Steffen wrote: "Look, no matter where you stand on the marriage equality issue – and for the record, and despite the fact it's going to light up about half of my friends, I favor passage of the bill – I think the question should be "Why did she apologize?"
"The way I'm hearing it, there were a few legislators who switched sides at the last minute out of fear of reprisals if they voted for the bill. To those legislators who have strong beliefs either in favor of or in opposition to the bill, that's fine. Vote your conscience. BUT, if you're going to jump at the last moment out of fear of what may happen if you don't – you're a coward. And no apologies will be forthcoming from this end."